IEEE Annual Election - Region 5 (Southwestern USA)

HUNTER BOUDREAUX, P.E.
(Nominated by IEEE Region 5)

Hunter Boudreaux attained his Bachelor of Science from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in Electrical Engineering in 2006. He worked for Associated Design Group (ADG), a consulting engineering firm from 1998 – 2008. At ADG he started as an office assistant and then transitioned to AutoCAD drafter and later designed lighting and power systems for residential and commercial buildings.

In 2008, Hunter began work at Lafayette Utilities System (LUS) with duties that include: design of protective relaying, transmission short circuit assessments, and substation and transmission line design and construction. Hunter became a licensed professional engineer in Louisiana in 2011. In July 2014, Hunter became the Chief Electrical Engineer at LUS. He has been an IEEE member since 2004, and the IEEE Lafayette section chair since 2014. Hunter has been married to his wife Jennifer for fourteen years, he has thirteen year old boy-girl twins and an eight year old daughter.

(S’05-M’07-SM’17)

Hunter’s IEEE journey began in 2004 as a junior in college when he entered into the IEEE Region 5 student competition for mystery design held in the spring of 2005. Hunter was elected as the University of Louisiana Lafayette Student society chair for 2005-2006 school year. He continued with student competitions at Region 5 when his team entered into the robotics competition in the spring of 2006. After graduation Hunter transitioned from student member to full member.  He has been an active member in his local IEEE Chapter. Hunter was elected the IEEE Lafayette Section vice chair in 2013 and since becoming the IEEE Lafayette Section chair in 2014 has remained the section chair. Hunter became an IEEE Senior Member in August of 2017.  

Since entering IEEE in college I have remained active in IEEE and attempt to bring IEEE and its benefits to my peers. I stay engaged with the student branch of IEEE at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and want to ensure the minds of our future leaders are aware of IEEE. I hope to bring my enthusiasm and experience to aid IEEE to remain in the forefront of our communities.

Dr. Matt Francis holds B.S.E.E (‘03), B.S. Physics (’04), M.S.E.E. (’07) and Ph.D. (’09) degrees from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, USA. He is President/CEO/Founder of Ozark Integrated Circuits, Inc. in Fayetteville, a provider of rugged electronics for aerospace and energy applications.

Dr. Francis is an expert in the design, modeling, and packaging of electronics for extreme environments, having led many projects supporting mil/aero and energy applications with NASA, DARPA, DOE, USAF, NSF and commercial partners. He was Ozark IC’s payload specialist for the International Space Station (2019), coordinating live data collection from an ultraviolet sensor system designed by Ozark IC for a year in low earth orbit.

He lives in Elkins, AR with his wife and daughter, and serves as City Council Member. He is also co-founder of a non-profit, the Elkins Community Network, that strives to connect citizens to activities, community groups, and businesses in the area.

Matt has served in a number of volunteer roles within IEEE, including as Section Chair of the Ozark Section (‘16-‘19; R5 Outstanding Small Section ‘17), and as the current East Area Chair for Region 5 (‘19-). To align with his passion for student engagement, entrepreneurship, membership, and leadership development, Matt serves on the MGA Geographical Unit Operations and the IEEE-USA Entrepreneurship Policy and Innovation Committees, as well as a coordinator and co-founder of the IEEE Ozark Section sponsored Elkins Electronics/Robotics Club which engages students from 1^st grade through high school in a unique electronics/programming/data science curriculum. He was recognized with an Outstanding Individual Achievement Award from R5 in 2017 and a Directors Award in 2020 for his section engagement programs.

In technical activities, he has authored or co-authored over 50 papers and given invited talks in the areas of modeling, simulation electronics design, and packaging. He has served as a reviewer to the IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, Transactions on Electron Devices, and Transactions on Circuits and Systems.

Statement

If selected to serve, I will continue to focus on improving our experience for members of all levels; from students to life members. This starts with making the roles of our branch, chapter and section volunteers easier and more productive. The last year has been more different than anyone could have imagined.  We have learned to take all of our region business virtual, and support our geo units in making this same transition.  This challenging year created an opportunity to innovate that we can continue to build upon. In the coming years, we will learn how to offer the online events that expand our audience while continuing to offer the quality in-person programs our members have grown to expect. With the seismic shifts in many industries in our region, there is more than ever a need for quality professional development and support. As a region, we will strive to support everyone from students entering an evolving workplace, to experienced members adjusting to continuing changes in their careers and work environments. Our members and volunteers are the key, and engaging and supporting them through the Region’s leadership will be our highest priority.